The final report by inspectors appointed to investigate the governance scandal in the former Independent News & Media will be published next Wednesday unless an objection is made before then, the High Court has directed.
Any objection must be made by noon next Tuesday and Mr Justice Garrett Simons will sit on Wednesday to consider that.
Mr Justice Simons was on Thursday provided with the report, running to hundreds of pages, of the six year investigation by inspectors Sean Gillane SC and UK solicitor Richard Fleck.
Around 30 lawyers attended Court 14 in the Four Courts for the presentation of the report, including at least 10 senior counsel.
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Mr Gillane indicated to the judge there was nothing in the report that would cause the inspectors concerns about its general publication. The inspectors had no difficulty with the report being provided to various parties who had engaged with the investigation, he added.
Neil Steen SC, for the Corporate Enforcement Authority, which is automatically entitled to the report, said his side would need time to read it and suggested that could be done over the weekend and the matter could be returned to next Tuesday.
Mr Justice Simons said he had thought the CEA would require longer.
After Eoin McCullough SC, for Mediahuis, the successor to INM, suggested the judge might instead order the report would be published next Wednesday, unless there was an objection to that, the judge took up that option and made the relevant orders. Any objection must be lodged with the court registrar by noon on Tuesday and he will deal with it on Wednesday before a final decision on publication.
The judge made other directions, including that the report be provided to several parties involved in the investigation, subject to confidentiality undertakings provided by them.
The judge was told by Mr Gillane the report could be sent to those parties later today electronically, to be accessed via a password protected mechanism.
Lawyers for several parties involved in the investigation had earlier secured leave to issue motions aimed at getting access to the report. While permitting the motions to be issued, the judge remarked they may not be necessary because his view was the applicant parties were entitled to be given the report.
Senior counsel representing Denis O’Brien; former INM chairman Leslie Buckley; Mediahuis, the successor to INM; seven former non-executive directors of INM; former INM CEO Robert Pitt all secured leave to issue the motions.
Counsel for the various parties agreed today with publication on Wednesday unless an objection is made.
Seán Guerin SC, for Mr Buckley, asked that he could be permitted to provide a copy of the report to his insurers as well as other professional advisers. That direction was made.
Barrister Shelley Horan, for Denis O’Brien, said Mr O’Brien agreed with the direction.
The judge told lawyers for a number of other parties, including DMZ IT Ltd, Specialist Security Services Ltd, Reconaissance Group Ltd and Resilient Defence Ltd, they would also be provided with the report, subject to confidentiality undertakings.
The CEA, as the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, sought the inspectors’ appointment in 2018.
Earlier this year circulated confidential draft findings to individuals against whom any adverse findings may be made, seeking any observations they may have on those findings. Following that, the inspectors finalised their report.
The inspectors were appointed in September 2018 by then High Court president, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, to carry out the inspection in the wake of an unlawful breach of company data when Denis O’Brien was the main shareholder in INM.
The data breach raised serious questions over the conduct of then INM chairman Leslie Buckley, who represented Mr O’Brien’s interests in the company. Mr Buckley has always denied any wrongdoing.
Mr O’Brien became the dominant INM shareholder after wresting control of the business from the late Sir Anthony O’Reilly. Mr O’Brien incurred a loss of more than €400 million when selling his INM shares to Mediahuis of Belgium in 2019.
When appointing the inspectors, the High Court was told backup computer tapes from INM ended up in the hands of third parties for “data interrogation” relating to 19 named individuals, among them journalists and former company officials.
The INM data was accessed by parties with links to Mr Buckley and one of Mr O’Brien’s companies paid for the analysis, the court was told.
The inspectors were also asked to examine a plan for INM to buy out Newstalk, a radio station then under Mr O’Brien’s control. The plan was scrapped after INM’s then chief executive, Robert Pitt, complained of pressure from Mr Buckley to pay an inflated price for Newstalk.
Also under investigation was a proposal, later dropped, for INM to pay about €1 million to one of Mr O’Brien’s companies for work “allegedly done” on the sale of shares in APN, an Australian group. Mr Pitt claimed no services were provided.
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